


The End of It

by clare009



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 09:25:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3376355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clare009/pseuds/clare009
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What had happened, happened. It was just sex between two consenting adults. It didn't change anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End of It

Carol was not entirely sure how they'd reached this point. In the darkness of their shelter, Daryl was stretched out, half naked and snoring. She held her knees up to her chest as she tried to see the lines of his body in what little moonlight managed to filter through the high windows of the gas station bathroom. 

She could still feel the sticky residue, evidence of what they'd done, on the inside of her thighs. Her heart still hammered in her chest. 

Quietly, she stretched to find her clothes, and without waking him up, she managed to put herself back together. They weren't out of the woods yet, the wind battered at the door, and she could hear the groans of the dead they'd evaded in the distance. She rubbed her eyes as she tried put her thoughts in order. 

They'd become separated from the group by a small herd, and with darkness rapidly approaching, Daryl had snatched her hand to keep her by his side. They'd outrun the walkers, and found the busted up gas station. The bathroom, with its separate entrance and high windows seemed like a logical place to hide, and luck was with them when they'd been able to bolt the door from the inside. 

One minute, they'd both had their backs to the cold tile, panting to catch their breaths. Relief had washed over her like a tsunami at the narrow escape, and when she'd turned to look him, he was looking back at her with a different sort of intensity. She wasn't sure who had reached for whom first, but without knowing the mechanics of what had put there, she soon found herself in his arms, his lips on hers, and his thigh wedging between her legs as he pushed her up against the wall. 

The whole act had not lasted more than several minutes. Frantic, they had pulled at each other's clothes and grasped for flesh. She'd had her hand down his pants and on his cock even as he pushed her bra up and claimed a painfully tight nipple with his mouth. In a tangle of limbs and clothes, they'd fallen to the floor, and as soon as he'd helped her pull her panties off, he was inside her, grunting, thrusting, and making any rational thought impossible. 

She'd reached between them to pinch at her clit, and felt the pain and pleasure contrast shoot through her as Daryl slammed into her. He wasn't gentle, there was no finesse to his movements, and he kept his head buried in the crook of her neck while she squeezed her eyes shut to block out their surroundings. As he thrust, she continued to pinch and tug at her clit, feeling the sensations gather and build from deep inside her until she knew she was close. 

He breathed an expletive into her ear, then nipped at the lobe with his teeth, making her whine. When she shifted her legs, hooking them higher around his waist, the change in angle made all the difference. He was hitting some place inside her that she never knew existed, and she met his thrusts with a push of her hips, crying out each time he slid against that spot. 

Everything coiled tight, and Carol jerked once as her pussy clenched around him like a vice, and then she shuddered as the coil snapped and the pleasure from her orgasm rolled through her. 

Daryl finished a few short thrusts behind her, grunting as he came with one hand on her boob, and his mouth latched onto her neck. 

He'd lain on top of her for a while, and Carol couldn't think of the first thing to say as the chill in the air rapidly cooled the sweat on her skin. She was still reeling from the bliss, and the suddenness of it all, and he was growing heavy, making it hard for her to breathe. Just as she was about to point it out, he rolled away from her, his cock finally slipping from inside her and leaving a trail of wet cum in its wake. 

Daryl stood only long enough to pull up and buckle his pants, and reach for their packs. He dragged out a couple of blankets and dumped them next to her. 

"Ground's fucking freezing," he said in his gruff voice. 

Carol nodded, biting her lip, and helped him spread the blankets out. It didn't take Daryl long to bed down with his pack at his head and fall into a satiated sleep. 

What had happened happened--Carol knew they couldn't erase it. They could only move forward. One moment he'd been her friend, and now… he was something else entirely. She just wasn't sure what.

Thinking was not doing her any favors, so she stretched out carefully next to him, leaving a sliver of space between them, and shut her eyes while she waited for sleep to come. 

By the time the sun filtered through the high windows, Carol was ready to move. She hesitated before she put her hand on his shoulder to wake him. 

Daryl's eyes snapped open. 

"We gotta go," she said. 

His eyes narrowed, and she watched while he got his bearings, then he nodded. He was up and dragging his shirt and vest back on, then stuffing his blanket back into his pack while she leaned against the door. As he zipped his pack shut, he looked up at her. "We gonna talk about it?"

Her heart began to stutter. She shrugged. "What's there to talk about?"

He didn't respond as he got to his feet, and Carol turned, knife at the ready, and unlocked the door with a click. Back in sync, they stepped out into the bright sunlight and whatever was waiting for them out there.

\---

They made it back to the safe zone, and what was even better, their people had made it back all in once piece, too. Carol counted it a good run, even though there had been no supplies to bring back. Alive was better. Alive was good. 

She quickly slipped back into her routine, telling herself what had happened between her and Daryl hadn't changed anything. It was just sex. They were both adults, and that was the end of it. Except she couldn't shake the nervous tension that filled her whenever Daryl was around. She'd look up across the tables in the mess hall to see him watching her, and her skin would tingle. 

It wasn't as if she was avoiding him, not exactly, but their paths didn't cross a whole lot, and even though they both bunked down in the same apartment, along with Rick and his family, Michonne and Sasha and Gabriel, he was usually out the door before sun rise, and she kept late watch on the walls, so by the time she returned, he was already asleep. 

It was several nights later that he was finally able to corner her. She was alone at her post on the wall, her rifle ready as she kept an eye out for any disturbance beyond the norm. That was when she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, and she spun around to find Daryl climbing up to join her.

"What are you doing here?"

He squinted at her, then shrugged. "Hell if I know."

She watched him as he seemed to deflate. He was unable to look her in the eyes, and after only a moment, he turned to climb back down. She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait."

He froze. She could feel the muscle of his bicep twitch under her fingers. "Guess I should be the one asking you. What are we doing here, Carol?"

All her excuses, her arguments fled as she saw uncertainty wash over his face. "I… God." She wiped her face, and her lips curved into a smile despite how lost she felt. 

He snorted, and then she saw the dimple in his cheek, and suddenly everything slotted into place. Shaking, she reached for his hand. Her fingers threaded through his and she felt his pulse in the a spot at the curve between his thumb and his forefinger. Her own pulse jumped to align with his. 

"We good?" he asked.

She nodded. 

He squeezed her hand, then dropped it as he turned to go. 

"Daryl," she said softly after him. He raised his eyebrow at her and she flushed with the direction her thoughts had taken. "I wouldn't mind if… well, um, when I get back… if you want to, that is, we could, um…" she huffed out a sigh. "You're not gonna make this easy for me, are you?"

His teeth flashed as he grinned. "Nope. But I bet I can make it real hard."

"Stop."

He chuckled all the way back to the ground, and Carol was left with a warmth in her chest and an ache further down, and she knew he'd be waiting for her later.


End file.
